Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 141 Money comes
In those troubled times, Xiao Yuanzhi did not linger in Guangling and left the next day. In order to avoid suspicion, he did not allow Liu Daogui to see him off.

Sima Daozi emptied Yuzhou, and the Yu family submitted petitions to the court one after another, with earnest words, saying that Yuzhou had to defend against the Hu people in the north and was under enormous pressure, and asked Sima Daozi to show mercy.

Sima Daozi ignored it and acted on his own.

In the past, it was a confrontation between Jingkou and Jiankang, but now it has become a tug-of-war between Liyang and Jiankang.

Liyang is separated from Jiankang by a river...

Liu Daogui watched the show silently. A few days later, Li Damu's three ships returned to Guangling Port from Langya.

Liu Daogui took Liu Zun on board. As soon as they entered the cabin, they were dazzled by the golden and white things inside and couldn't open their eyes.

The warehouse was full of money, gold and silver. Liu Daogui estimated that there were at least 30,000 strings of cash.

"Oh my God, so much money." Liu Zun pounced on it and rolled around on the money.

Li Damu laughed and said, "Hey, that's only half a year's worth of salt profits. Liu Zhubu said they'll expand eleven more salt fields this year, bringing in at least 150,000 strings of cash annually!"

At the beginning, Yandu had an annual income of four or five hundred thousand strings of cash, which was far behind Langya. However, if this trend continues, it will catch up with Yandu sooner or later.

It takes three years of hard work to farm the land to make a profit, but selling salt privately can bring such an amazing return in just half a year.

"How much did Liu Zhubu get?"

"Liu Zhubu only took 10,000 strings of cash. He told me to tell him that joining the army would require a lot of money, so he should take more."

Liu Daogui felt warm in his heart. Along the way, he encountered many difficulties from the gentry, but he also made many friends.

With money in hand, I feel more confident.

Liu Zun said excitedly: "Agui, with so much money, it shouldn't be difficult to just buy a general or a governor, right?"

Yuan He had said at the beginning that a deputy general cost 50,000 strings of cash, and Liu Daogui most wanted to buy a Lanling prefect.

But the problem is who to buy from. Buying an official position requires connections and family background. If a poor man suddenly takes out 50,000 strings of cash, what will the people above think?
Especially at this time, who to buy from is also a big problem.

A new round of power struggle is underway in Jiangzuo, and it is still unclear who will have the last laugh.

On the way back, Liu Daogui kept thinking about this question.

Make a fortune in silence. The people above are not good people. They have eyes and ears everywhere. If the matter is leaked, Langya's illegal salt will attract countless jackals and tigers.

It is absolutely necessary to keep a low profile at this time.

"Who is it?" The defenders on the city wall shouted.

"It's me, Liu Daogui, a member of the Central Military Commission."

"It's General Liu. Open the city gate quickly." The voices of the officers on the city wall became flattering.

"Boss Jiang, martial law is in effect now. Sima Yuan has issued a strict order..."

There was a "pop" sound, "You're blind, this is General Liu, one of us!"

Then the city gate creaked open.

The officer came down to greet them with a dozen soldiers, one of whom had a clear slap mark on his face.

Liu Daogui smiled inwardly, but when he looked closely at the officer, he felt he was unfamiliar with him. "Brother, you are..."

"Oh, my name is Jiang Xiu, the fire chief of the front unit. My family was in financial difficulty a while ago, and it was only with the money and food I borrowed from the army that my family was able to get by."

"That's good, that's good. Brother, if you have any difficulties in the future, feel free to come to me." Liu Daogui glanced at the soldiers in the front. Although they were elite soldiers under Yuan He's control, their clothes were full of patches and their faces were pale, which was very different from when they were under Huan's command before.

The Yuan family, a second-rate aristocratic family, cannot be compared with the Huan family.

"Joining the army for justice, we will remember it in our hearts!"

"Excuse me, everyone. Take this money and buy some wine." Liu Daogui took out a small bag of money from his pocket and handed it over. "How can I do this?" Jiang Xiu pushed it away, but held the bag tightly with both hands.

"Why not? Brothers, you have kept Guangling safe, so you should eat and drink well!" Liu Daogui stuffed the money into his arms.

"Thank you for joining the army." Jiang Xiu's face was full of gratitude.

"Thank you for joining the army!" The soldiers' eyes were full of respect.

"You two will escort the soldiers back home."

The treatment is different when money is given. Jiang Xiu is also a good person. He sent two soldiers with torches to clear the way for Liu Daogui.

I met a patrolling soldier on the road and asked him from a distance.

Without Liu Daogui saying anything, the two soldiers started cursing, "You're so blind! Can't you see it's General Liu?"

The soldiers turned around and left...

Liu Daogui enjoyed a special service and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that money can make the world go round. After spending so much money, the effect has come out and even the soldiers in the front have become familiar with him.

Suddenly an idea came to my mind.

Since the soldiers at the front can be bribed, the same should be true for others.

With so much money in hand, it would be better to use it to buy people's hearts instead of buying an official position.

Given his family background, even if he bought an official position, he would still be criticized by the noble families and would find it difficult to gain a foothold.

Wang Guobao and Wang Xu came from such high-ranking families, yet they became scapegoats with just one sentence?

For the poor, the knife is the source of power. Without a knife in hand, no matter how much money you have, you cannot keep it.

Looking at the long term, chaos in Jiangzuo is imminent. Whoever holds more knives will have more power!
As soon as this thought came to mind, my mind suddenly became clear.

These low-level soldiers will not engage in intrigue or deception with themselves. They will be good to whoever treats them well.

Liu Daogui summoned Zhao Lunzhi, Xu Changming, Gou Zhong and more than fifty other subordinates and confidants overnight. "From today on, each of you will receive three strings of cash per month. All soldiers in the Zhenglu Army will receive five hundred cash per month. The platoon leader will receive seven hundred, the fire captain will receive eight hundred, and the dubo will receive one string of cash!"

There were a total of 2,673 people in the Zhenglu Army, and their monthly salary was only more than 2,000 strings of cash, which was less than 25,000 strings of cash a year.

The Langya Salt Field had a revenue of 30,000 strings of cash in just half a year, and the revenue was still growing.

Liu Daogui still has a clear account of this.

"Agui, even if you have money you shouldn't spend it like this." Zhao Lunzhi was used to a hard life.

"If you have money, you should spend it. What you spend is money. This is called spending a small amount of money to accomplish a big thing. No need to say more, it's settled. There is only one condition: let all the soldiers know that this money comes from me, Liu Daogui."

Zhao Lunzhi said, "If...Sima Yuan knew about this, would there be trouble?"

"Yuan He is too busy taking care of himself now to take care of us. Even if he knew, the matter has been settled and the people's hearts are with me, so he would not dare to move!" Liu Daogui has made up his mind.

Yuan He is a smart man who only cares about interests and dares not really turn against others.

Liu Daogui is not afraid even if he turns against him.

He was from a noble family, with his eyes looking upward, climbing up by clinging to the powerful and influential, unlike Liu Daogui, who took the lower-class route. There was basically no conflict of interest between the two sides.

Zhao Lunzhi sighed, "Alas, if the people above could have half the care and consideration of Ah Gui, our brothers wouldn't have to live such a miserable life."

These days, except for the noble families, almost everyone has a hard time.

There is no other way. Jiangdong is such a small piece of land, and it is too stressful to support so many nobles and powerful people.

(End of this chapter)